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slave narratives compared to today essay
reflection on a slave narrative
slave narratives compared to today essay
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In this paper, I will compare nineteenth-century and twentieth- century depiction of African-American women in slavery and freedom in two works of fiction- Clotel; or, The President’s Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States, by William Wells Brown, and Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston. Brown, in his book, presents the life of nineteenth-century slave women and shows the impact of slavery on their love and marriage life. Their Eyes Were Watching God which was written a decade after Brown’s novel, shows how the change in political scenario with the ending of slavery affects the love and marriage life of an African-American woman. In both the works the main characters, Clotel in Clotel; or, The President’s Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States and Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God, are the African-American women searching for love in different historical periods. Both women find love at some point but have it taken away from them by differing historical circumstances. In Clotel; or, The President’s Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States Clotel’s ability to love is limited by slavery and in Their Eyes Were Watching God Janie’s love is limited by the legacy of slavery. Each novel shows different generations of African-American women in the romantic development that attests to the historical slavery.
Clotel; or, The President’s Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States tells the story of a slave girl, Clotel who ends up marrying a slave master, Horatio Green, finds love in him and ultimately is separated from him. Their Eyes were Watching God is the story of Janie’s search for unconditional, true, and fulfilling love and she spends forty years o...
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... masters or to end their lives. The tragic end of Clotel shows how in spite of finding momentarily love in her life there is no hope for a slave woman and death is the only way for her out of that life of slavery. Hurston, on the other hand, in her book opted to represent Janie as tough, courageous, and independent woman and not like the most African-American women of nineteenth-century. Janie’s character in Hurston’s work shows how even though the continuing legacy of slavery affects the love and marriage lives of African-American women but prospects do exist for them and they just have to wait for the opportunities and embrace them.
Works Cited
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006. Print.
Brown, William Wells. Clotel: Or, The President's Daughter. New York: Modern Library, 2000. Print.
Harris, Trudier. "Celebrating Bigamy and Other Outlaw Behaviors: Hurston, Reputation, and the Problems Inherent in Labeling Janie a Feminist." Approaches to Teaching Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God and Other Works. Ed. John Lowe. New York: MLA, 2009. 67-80. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Lawrence J. Trudeau. Vol. 285. Detroit: Gale, 2013. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.
Interpretations: Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.
Laurence Hill’s novel, The Book of Negroes, uses first-person narrator to depict the whole life ofAminata Diallo, beginning with Bayo, a small village in West Africa, abducting from her family at eleven years old. She witnessed the death of her parents with her own eyes when she was stolen. She was then sent to America and began her slave life. She went through a lot: she lost her children and was informed that her husband was dead. At last she gained freedom again and became an abolitionist against the slave trade. This book uses slave narrative as its genre to present a powerful woman’s life.She was a slave, yes, but she was also an abolitionist. She always held hope in the heart, she resist her dehumanization.
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, Inc., 1990.
Through her use of southern black language Zora Neale Hurston illustrates how to live and learn from life’s experiences. Janie, the main character in Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, is a woman who defies what people expect of her and lives her life searching to become a better person. Not easily satisfied with material gain, Janie quickly jumps into a search to find true happiness and love in life. She finally achieves what she has searched for with her third marriage.
Zora Neale Hurston an early twentieth century Afro-American feminist author, was raised in a predominately black community which gave her an unique perspective on race relations, evident in her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hurston drew on her on experiences as a feminist Afro-American female to create a story about the magical transformation of Janie, from a young unconfident girl to a thriving woman. Janie experiences many things that make her a compelling character who takes readers along as her companion, on her voyage to discover the mysteries and rewards life has to offer.
Rosenblatt, Roger. “Roger Rosenblatt’s Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Rpt. in Modern Critical Views of Zora Neale Hurston. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1986. 29-33. Print.
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Company, 1937. Print.
Racine, Maria J. "African American Review." Voice and Interiority in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God 28.2 (1994): 283-92. Jstor. Black's Women Culture Issue, Summer 1994. Web. Dec. 2013.
In Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, the author subjects the reader to a dystopian slave narrative based on a true story of a woman’s struggle for self-identity, self-preservation and freedom. This non-fictional personal account chronicles the journey of Harriet Jacobs (1813-1897) life of servitude and degradation in the state of North Carolina to the shackle-free promise land of liberty in the North. The reoccurring theme throughout that I strive to exploit is how the women’s sphere, known as the Cult of True Womanhood (Domesticity), is a corrupt concept that is full of white bias and privilege that has been compromised by the harsh oppression of slavery’s racial barrier. Women and the female race are falling for man’s
In many instances, women never have the chance to realize their self worth or to meet their full potential. Learning about bravery, confidence, and selflessness is a major factor in Zora Neale Hurston’s novel. Their Eyes Were Watching God describes the troubles of a young African American woman, Janie Crawford, who is given the chance to learn in each of her relationships. Life presents one with limitless opportunities to learn and to better oneself. Janie finds a way to learn from unfavorable circumstances.
Hurston, Lora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1990.
In the novel, the author proposes that the African American female slave’s need to overcome three obstacles was what unavoidably separated her from the rest of society; she was black, female, and a slave, in a white male dominating society. The novel “locates black women at the intersection of racial and sexual ideologies and politics (12).” White begins by illustrating the Europeans’ two major stereotypes o...
Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God helps us envision the struggles and battles of oppression of an African American woman, named Janie, during the turn of the century. As Janie strives for happiness and love we are provided with multiple examples abuse, disrespect and tyranny on behave of her own individuality, goals and dreams. Not only do we see that Janie was extremely disrespected but also misconceived on their roles in the social ladder in a severe patriarchal society.
"The monstropolous beast had left his bed. The two hundred miles an hour wind had loosed his chains. He seized hold of his dikes and ran forward until he met the quarters; uprooted them like grass and rushed on after his supposed-to-be conquerors, rolling the dikes, rolling the houses, rolling the people in the houses along with other timbers. The sea was walking the earth with a heavy heel.